


we're burning forever, and ever

by elysianprince



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Post-Order 66, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25996678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elysianprince/pseuds/elysianprince
Summary: The suffocating heat and the acrid stench of sulfur made his lungs feel as though they were burning like the lava around them, but Obi-Wan found himself unable to breathe for an entirely different reason as he looked into Anakin’s eyes and saw a ghastly yellow staring back at him.The same eyes that had haunted his sleepless nights as Anakin shut him out and slipped further and further out of reach.---AU inspired by The Old Guard.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 15
Kudos: 106





	we're burning forever, and ever

**Author's Note:**

> This fic just kinda happened while I was working on a much longer chapter fic, so it ended up being my first obikin fic? It was inspired a bit by Nicky and Joe from The Old Guard and how they met. 
> 
> Thank you to my pals in the discord server who gave me lovely advice for this <3
> 
> The title is from Demolition Lovers by My Chemical Romance.
> 
> Please enjoy!

The suffocating heat and the acrid stench of sulfur made his lungs feel as though they were burning like the lava around them, but Obi-Wan found himself unable to breathe for an entirely different reason as he looked into Anakin’s eyes and saw a ghastly yellow staring back at him. 

The same eyes that had haunted his sleepless nights as Anakin shut him out and slipped further and further out of reach.

They were so evenly matched. They had always been two halves of the same soul, moving together as one warrior on the battlefield. This moment was no different, their souls still intertwined in the Force. One moved to receive the other’s strikes before they were even made, and they danced like that through the fire. 

Obi-Wan gave and he gave, hoping Anakin would come to his senses after exhausting his rage, but the young man persisted. And he persisted, his rage all-consuming.

Inky darkness began seeping in along the edges of light in the Force, and Obi-Wan’s hope burned out long before their fight came to an end.

Their clash culminated with one last lunge towards each other, lightsabers crackling. Anakin got a vice grip on Obi-Wan’s right wrist, catching him mid-swing. But Obi-Wan caught Anakin’s arm similarly, locking them into a fierce struggle. 

Obi-Wan managed to free his right hand from Anakin’s grasp, something he certainly couldn’t have done if it had been Anakin’s mechanical hand. He deactivated his saber and used the last remnants of his strength to pull Anakin even closer to him. Hatred was blazing in the yellow eyes boring into his own, but there was a brief flash of fear and shock when Anakin realized what was happening.

In one swift move, Obi-Wan jabbed the hilt of his lightsaber against Anakin’s back and reignited it. The searing plasma pierced through Anakin and into Obi-Wan’s chest.

Suddenly, everything was still, as if the galaxy had screeched to a halt. Even the Force was silent.

Something almost like relief flooded his mind, intermingling with the overwhelming pain coursing through his body. But it all paled in comparison to the immense guilt at seeing his own saber run through the heart of his best friend.

 _I’m sorry, dear one,_ Obi-Wan spared a thought as his eyelids fell closed and he slumped forward. _It wasn’t supposed to go this way._

He collapsed in a heap, taking Anakin with him as their sabers deactivated and clattered to the floor. He had never wanted to harm his former padawan, would have gladly given his life to _save_ Anakin, but he was too far gone to reach. And somewhere in their struggle, Obi-Wan lost hold on his last thread of hope and fell into the all-consuming darkness. 

He felt more than heard his friend’s final strangled gasp. Obi-Wan made a desperate attempt to use his last breath to whisper an apology, but no words came out.

At least this time... he wouldn’t be left alone, to carry onward by himself in his grief…

With one final hope that Anakin would join him, Obi-Wan gave himself over to the Force.

But it didn’t take him.

Obi-Wan awoke with a seizing cough as air rushed back into his lungs. The sensation was utterly jarring as his senses came back, slowly and muddily. Something wasn’t right. He had absolutely no doubt that he had died. Surely… surely this wasn’t what becoming one with the Force felt like… 

It dawned on Obi-Wan that there was no longer any pain lancing through his chest. He clumsily patted the spot on his chest where his own lightsaber had left the mortal wound, only to find his skin perfectly healed.

With what seemed like a tremendous amount of effort, Obi-Wan opened his eyes and turned his head towards Anakin’s unmoving form. His throat grew tight and his eyes began to water, unshed tears threatening to spill. He couldn’t help but wonder what cruel joke the universe was playing on him.

But all his thoughts came to a screeching halt as he heard another, painfully familiar groan. 

After a few sputtering gasps for air, Anakin unsteadily rolled over to face Obi-Wan, chest still heaving. When his eyes opened, Obi-Wan was met with the clear blue he had gotten lost in so many times over the years, like an ocean he could never find his way out of.

“...Anakin?”

With a blink, the ocean turned yellow, and the young man’s face twisted viciously as he quickly grabbed the closest saber and ignited it. There was a blinding flash of blue before everything went black again.

He couldn’t tell how much time it took, but once again the shock of being able to breathe again jolted Obi-Wan back into awareness. The rush of air was like a searing pain through his lungs, his breath shuddering as he looked around and tried to evaluate his surroundings.

Obi-Wan hardly had a moment before Anakin was coming at him again from across the room, lightsaber in hand. Each step he took was full of murderous intent.

“Why won’t you _die?”_ Anakin snarled, his voice laced with desperation. Obi-Wan almost didn’t notice the tears trailing down Anakin’s face as he scrambled away from him.

He frantically grabbed the nearest weapon - a blaster from a sliced-up droid - and fired without aiming. His stomach dropped as his friend’s body hit the floor, a gruesome wound marring the young man’s face. Obi-Wan carelessly tossed the uncivilized weapon aside, disgusted with himself. Anakin was gripping both lightsabers. He cautiously pried them from his friend’s hands and clipped them to his own belt.

Obi-Wan sat down next to his former padawan’s body, gently closing Anakin’s eyes, not wanting to see lifeless yellow staring back at him, though the Force only knew he deserved the discomfort for what he had done.

And he waited, clinging to the hope that he hadn’t made a terrible mistake. He didn’t even attempt to hold back the tears that spilled forth. 

Obi-Wan had no idea what in Sith’s hell was going on. It was almost as if they were trapped in some sort of torturous loop, but that didn’t sound right either. He could sense the ghosts of his wounds if he focused enough in the Force, but there was absolutely no physical evidence remaining on his body.

And the only wound on Anakin’s body was the one Obi-Wan had just put there with the Force-forsaken blaster.

He let out a trembling sigh and closed his eyes, unable to look at his former padawan in that state any longer. The darkness was creeping in further as he sat next to Anakin’s disconcertingly still body. Obi-Wan barely had the energy to resist it, weakly holding on to what remained of the Light around him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to fight it any longer if he had to kill Anakin again.

A sharp gasp startled Obi-Wan into awareness as his friend’s forehead finished knitting itself back together, and blue eyes met his once more.

As the younger man slowly pushed himself off the floor, he eyed Obi-Wan with hesitation, clearly assessing whether or not the Jedi was going to attack him. Anakin managed to get himself into a seated position on the floor, and his breathing was labored as he leaned against a nearby console for support. His head knocked hard against the metal of the console as he ran his hand over the spot on his forehead where his blaster wound no longer was.

Watching his former padawan like that somehow broke Obi-Wan’s heart impossibly further. He didn’t even think he had a heart left to break after everything, all the pain and suffering and loss… but _Anakin_ was his heart. Obi-Wan feared he always would be, no matter what. To see his beloved in such a way, how Anakin curled _away_ from him, hurt immeasurably. The soul-deep trust between them was all but a memory now...

The taut silence stretched on between them, but Obi-Wan broke it, his voice hoarse from the noxious fumes of the planet.

“Are you quite done with-” He vaguely gestured between the two of them, having no clue how to even begin to qualify it. “-whatever the stars is going on here?”

It was a long moment before Anakin answered, his gaze fixed on the floor instead of looking anywhere near his former master.

“I— I _killed_ you… but you’re not—” His voice was so soft, so quiet Obi-Wan almost couldn’t hear him. “You’re still here.” 

“Well… I could say the same about you.” The older man’s tone lacked the wry humor it usually carried. 

Anakin was so uncharacteristically still and silent, his bright energy that had shone like a sun was lost in the darkness permeating around him. It almost unnerved Obi-Wan more than the yellow eyes had.

“We can’t die… can we?” Anakin asked, hesitantly looking up from the floor to meet his eyes.

“So it seems.” He nodded before letting out a weary sigh. “Though, I’d rather not test the theory again, if it’s all the same to you.”

He fell silent again, leaving Obi-Wan to the torrent of his thoughts. Where do they go from here? Where _can_ they go from here? Even if there… even if there were anything to go back to, there was no way Anakin could. Not after everything he had done. 

Once more he took in the sight of his former padawan before him. During their fight, it had felt like there was hardly a trace left of the man he loved. He was so engulfed in the darkness. 

Now he was completely closed off in the Force, his shields high and impenetrable. But even so, Obi-Wan no longer sensed any animosity from him. Just… deep, _deep_ sadness and regret swirling in the murkiness around him. It was clear that the depth of what he had done was beginning to catch up with his friend. Anakin’s posture was weighed down with guilt like it was crushing him.

Finally, knowing that they couldn’t remain there any longer, not in the suffocating fumes of Mustafar, and not where the Sith Lord would undoubtedly come looking for Anakin. Obi-Wan stood up and slowly walked to where Anakin was sitting, careful to not appear hostile. 

He held out his hand to Anakin.

The younger man didn’t recoil from the offer, but he didn’t accept it either. Anakin stared disbelievingly at Obi-Wan’s proffered hand, almost as if it might burn him should he reach out and take it. Or maybe he feared that he would burn Obi-Wan instead.

He buried his face in his knees, and the fabric of his pants muffled his next words. 

“Leave me.”

He seemed determined to drown in his guilt alone, to let the flames consume him, as if it could be his repentance for his horrific crimes. It wasn’t, it would never be enough.

“No.”

Anakin’s head jerked up, and his brows were furrowed in confusion. His eyes were bloodshot, tears welling up in them, but mercifully still blue.

Obi-Wan kept his hand extended, unwaveringly. “You’d think after all these years, you would know I’m incapable of leaving you, Anakin.”

For an agonizing moment, Obi-Wan had a fleeting thought that Anakin would turn away from him entirely.

But then Anakin hesitantly reached out and grabbed his hand, holding on tightly. Obi-Wan sensed the darkness ebb away slightly, the smallest bit of reassurance as he held on to Anakin’s hand.

Wherever they were going, they would at least be together again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> You can find me at [elysian-prince](https://elysian-prince.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.


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